Knights long forgotten
by Spartan492
Summary: A slightly AU KOTOR story, read chapter 1 as it has a basic overview and all the important info I felt I should share. Please read and review. More or less abandonded please dont expect any updates.
1. Chapter 1: A shocking return

Knights long forgotten

Overview, Intro and opening A/N

Slightly AU KOTOR, basically a story about what would have happened if an unknown fleet led by a forgotten branch of Jedi (my OC) had turned up just as Malak was bombarding Taris and then rescued the characters we know and love, kind of. I'll still be sticking to the storyline of the game, but there will be some very obvious deviations and the dialogue will be really quite different too.  
Oh and just to make it easier on myself I'm also using my very own Female Revan just because I can.

Please let me know if you hate the story with a vengeance or if you feel that I am stealing things from other authors, I'll try to be original but it may prove difficult. Anyhow, please read and review, if people review a request for background on my OC then I'll post one for you, but be aware that it'll take away allot of the mystery surrounding my characters if you really want to know without reading the entire story then I'll write up a back-story for you, but know that you will be missing out on a great deal of the plot if you insist on this. :)

Oh and before I forget, OC/Bastila pairing, so leave now if you hate her. Also moderate detail will be used so if you're squeamish about battle descriptions or... other things, then leave now.

Uh... yeah also, if you feel that I should reclassify the story to M then please either PM me or say so in a review

Also Disclaimer: Star Wars, KOTOR and all things to do with said universe/fandom do not belong to me but to Lucas arts, Bioware and whoever else holds rights to them etc. Same thing with any songs I use (and I will be using a couple), they belong to whoever actually owns rights to them and that isn't me. The only thing I own is what I do with the story and my OC(s).

Woo... long intro and fairly rambling, anyway enjoy reading (or not as the case may be). And now, onto chapter one.

......... means scene change or perspective change btw

* * *

Chapter 1: A shocking return

__

It has been some time since these ships have sailed the ocean, I only hope that we may put right what was once so wrong in us all... but I fear for the future, for all those lost on this great journey. We have been gone for so many years, and our influence faded long ago. Now we go crawling back to our homes... our ancestor's homes, where all is not as it seems and where vigilance must be constant.  
The Republic... the great and glorious Republic, whose leaders, sent us off with smiles on their faces and jealousy in their hearts. We never deserved such a fate, but perhaps our warning may come in time. We have been gone for so long that we are nothing but legend, or else confined to a forgotten corner in the Jedi's great library, condemned as a mistake, or honoured as heroes. Shall we ever know? And what does it matter anyway? We have fought for our beliefs and for the defence of what we felt worthy... perhaps that makes us arrogant, but then, what right does any sentient have to judge us, are we not all mere slaves to our emotions, or to the all encompassing destiny so lorded over us by the knowing of the galaxy.  
Perhaps it was for the best though, our time had drawn to an end, the Sith were routed and the dark side tamed... Perhaps it was for the best... that we left before falling ourselves... the Watchman's curse... to be too vigilant and to cross the line, the oh so dangerous line, between knowing thy enemy and becoming him thyself... yes, perhaps our exile was for the best, for if we had turned against the order... the galaxy itself would weep for the loss of such an honourable group... I only hope that we might be given back our place, the frontiersmen of the Jedi, watching for all taint and stopping it before it becomes a threat.

But something is wrong! I feel it even more keenly the closer we get to the Republic... a sickening and yet... enticing feeling... I have never before felt such a power. No, that is not true... I have felt such a thing once before in the presence of the greatest threat we have ever known, the man who caused the death of so many of my brothers... The Lord of the Sith, defeated in battle centuries ago, he cannot have returned... And yet without the Watchmen to-

Suddenly alarms began blaring all over the ancient cruiser. "All hands to battle stations! Repeat all hands to battle stations! Captain to the Bridge, unknown warships detected in orbit over our destination!"

_How could we have allowed such a thing to occur!_ Trent raged silently as he got up and exited his chambers onto the bridge. "Situation report!" he demanded

"Sir! We have exited hyperspace above the planet Taris as you ordered; we have picked up wreckage consistent with Republic battle plate and an unknown fleet in orbit. The sensors are picking up some weird readings too, the ships appear to be perfect in their construction in every detail. There are no impurities in the alloys detected and the ships appear to be single pieces of material with no discernable joins at all."

"That... that isn't possible, are we certain that is what the sensors are showing?"

"Yes sir, we've checked the readings three times now and I really can't see anything wrong with them."

"Very well Lieutenant, bring the fleet into a battle formation and launch all fighters in a defensive screen. I would rather not antagonise these new people but I have no wish to be caught unprepared. Have you attempted to open communications with them yet?"

"No Sir, we were waiting for you before doing so, we felt that they deserved to meet the boss rather than a lackey." The Lieutenant replied with a smirk

"Oh very funny, you just don't like talking to people you don't know, that's all it is, isn't it?"

"You wound me sir, truly you do. But anyway, enough with this, let's get down to business. Hmm, the fleet is deployed in defensive formation Alpha-9 and fighter squadrons 4 and 7 are out patrolling the perimeter. We're ready to open the comm. now Sir."

"Damn intro duty" Trent muttered under his breath "let's get this over with; open the channel to the unknown fleet."

"Channel open sir"

With this the Captain started to address the communications screen set into the centre console of the bridge.  
"This is the commanding officer of the Jedi star-cruiser _Revelations_ to the unknown fleet in orbit of the world Taris. Please state you identity and reason for being here."

"_Revelations_, this is Fleet Admiral Saul Karath, did I hear you correctly when you said Jedi star-cruiser?"

"Yes Admiral you did hear me correctly. Now I would like you to answer my outstanding question, who are you and why are you here?"

"As I said I am Admiral Saul Karath of the Sith Warship _Leviathan_. Prepare to die Jedi!"

With that Admiral Karath cut the comm. channel.

"Sith warship! All ships, offensive pattern Omega-5, launch all fighter squadrons, take that fleet down!"

With those orders the five ancient Jedi cruisers moved into a loose arrow formation, with almost 200 fighters swarming from their sides. The Sith fleet in orbit over Taris however, moved only three ships away from their blockading force to intercept them. The large Sith Interdictor cruisers dwarfed the smaller Jedi ships, being almost 50% larger and far more heavily armed. The two fleets began closing on one another with fighters streaking ahead of both fleets and engaging in a bloody melee halfway between the two fleets.  
As the ships closed on each other sporadic weapons fire began to launch from both sides, the shots doing no real damage but simply testing the shields of the other fleet. A very lucky shot from one Jedi cruiser showed them that the Sith warships shielding had a small gap, right behind the engines, only discovered due to a malfunctioning guidance system on a proton missile which flew off in totally the wrong direction before correcting itself when already behind its target.

The Jedi also discovered that the Interdictor had no Ion cannons, which came as a surprise as Ion cannons had been standard on all warships for several hundred years before the Watchmen had been exiled and all their ships sported at least four large ion turrets which were out to great effect in destroying the shields of the Interdictors and forcing two of them to withdraw.

The third Interdictor was not lucky enough to escape with its life. Almost as soon as its shields failed another volley of ion shots hit, disabling the engines and stopping them from running. One of the Jedi cruisers was sadly overconfident with this turn of events and decided to get close to the disabled warship and turn a broadside on it. As the Jedi cruiser pulled alongside the Interdictor though, it opened fire with its entire complement of auto targeting lasers which had so effectively been enforcing the blockade beforehand.

The Jedi cruiser was destroyed almost immediately from this storm of firepower to its unshielded hull and took the interdictor with her when her reactor went critical after the commander decided for a suicide run straight into her killer.

As such the first skirmish ended with one ship lost for each side, but the battle was far from over, upon the explosion of the first of the Jedi cruisers another five Interdictors broke off from their blockade duty and began firing on the Jedi cruisers, within seconds another two of the cruisers died in fire as their shields overloaded and Sith weaponry pierced fuel lines. Of the final two cruisers, one was so heavily damaged that all aboard were dead, with hull breaches venting what little atmosphere remained; while the command cruiser, with its heavier shields, was able to survive the barrage with only moderate damage.

"Sir! The rest of the fleet is lost, we're all that's left and we can't survive another attack. All our fighters are also down and engines are failing. Taris' gravity well has us; we're beginning to fall into the atmosphere."

"Very well Lieutenant. Abandon ship! All hands to escape pods! Abandon ship!" Ordered Trent

"Sith boarding party on deck twelve! Security is intercepting."

"No time! Hold them off long enough for us to reach the escape pods and then blow the ship once we're all clear."

"Go, the command staff will remain and stop the Sith from capturing the ship. We're expendable, Captain, you are not! For Honour and Truth sir!"

"For Honour and Truth Lieutenant, take as many of the Sith with you as you can."

With this, Trent started to move towards the closest escape pods, two corridors over from the bridge. It only took him about 30 seconds to arrive in the escape pod bay and before he left the ship he checked the security monitor next to the door to see how many of his crew had survived and managed to escape. What he saw shocked him; only 15 crewmen had managed to get off the ship alive, and only one other crew member was alive on the ship other than the remaining bridge crew. That crew member stumbled into the escape pod bay mere seconds after Trent had found out she was alive.

"Are you injured?" He immediately enquired of her

"N-no, I'm alright. These Sith are butchers, are we the only ones left?"

"The command crew are still alive but other than that we're the only survivors still aboard. Let's go, get into the escape pod."

With that order the crew member immediately got into the last remaining escape pod with Trent quickly following and setting it off. 15 seconds after the escape pod launched the ancient and venerated cruiser _Revelations_ exploded in nuclear fire. The shockwave from the ships destruction buffeted the escape pod as it plummeted through Taris' atmosphere, sending it on an almost uncontrolled entry into the stratosphere.

.........

"So you say Davik may want to meet me huh Mandalorian? And why in all the hells would I ever want to meet with the boss of the exchange on this planet?" Demanded Kaitlin Nemanor

"Davik is your only chance off this rock, that's why. With my recommendation you could get into his estate and then with my help we can steal his ship and get the hell out of here before the Sith decide the planet isn't worth their time anymore." Replied the powerfully built Mandalorian mercenary

"What do you mean not worth their-"

"Don't be dense Kaitlin, he obviously means that he thinks the Sit will level the planet... and I'm inclined to agree with him on this, they have to be frustrated that their search for Bastila is taking too long and if their like most Sith up there then they'll decide to level Taris' surface rather than waste any more time. It's all a matter of getting off the planet before that happens." Replied Carth, the war weary Republic pilot. "Let's just get over to Davik's mansion and steal the ship already. I'm sick of this planet and it's Sith overlords."

"Fair enough Carth. Ok Canderous lets go, can I bring another of the group too?"

"One other should be acceptable, just say they're your slave and it'll be fine. As long as they act like it of course."

"Good, Bastila you think you can handle it? As far as Davik knows you are a slave anyway and already belong to me since I won the Swoop race."

Bastila looked at her coldly before answering "I am sure I will be able to act sufficiently for the purpose, now let us get on with it."

"Very good, come on I'll take you to Davik, the sooner we get this over with the better."

With this, the three of them set of for Davik's mansion, totally unaware of what was going on it orbit, and of how close they had come to being too late.

.........

The escape pod had landed somewhere in the upper city. When Trent looked around he saw that the crewman who had been in the pod with him was dead, a failing safety harness had sent a large shard of metal straight into her chest, impaling her through her chest into the leather seatback.

_Another soul gone to Valhalla, rest in peace my friends, I will see that you receive the correct ceremonies later._

With this Trent made certain that he had all of the equipment he had brought with him, his personalised armour; his double bladed, silver lightsaber, with personal resonance crystal installed; three med-packs and last but not least his personal energy shield. All were present where he had stowed them inside the pod.  
He sighed and opened the hatch, ready for anything. What he saw was a long street with buildings towering on either side; he looked down the street and saw a second escape pod, although it didn't seem to be of the same design as his. Nevertheless Trent moved toward it to see if there was anyone left alive there.  
It was surprising that no one was around, not even a single Sith patrol or resident out on the street. Not trusting it to stay this way Trent hurried over to the other escape pod, only when he drew near it did he see that it had clearly been here for quite some time. Trent looked around to see if there was anywhere he may be able to lay low and avoid Sith patrols for a while, he noticed an apartment building right next to the other escape pod and decided it was as good a place as any to lay low for a while.

Only once Trent made it into the apartment building did he begin to notice the massive pain in his side. He looked down only to see a shard of metal, another souvenir of the escape pod, lodged in his chest, Trent was surprised he had made it this far with such an injury. He slumped against the wall of the apartment complex, about halfway between the elevator and the first apartment, Trent felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.

.........

Carth was on his way back to the apartment after seeing Kaitlin, Bastila and Canderous off. When he reached the Upper city walkway though, he saw a smoking escape pod down the other end of the street from the apartment complex.

"What the hell? That escape pod is totally new and it's not a standard Republic or Sith design." Carth said to himself as he pulled out his blasters and began to move toward the new escape pod. But before he even got halfway there, Carth noticed a slight trail of blood leading away from the crash site and towards the apartment complex where their hideout was located. "Damn, that blood trail is going to lead the Sith right to us not to mention whoever's blood that even is."  
With that Carth moved back towards the apartment complex and hurried in off the streets before any Sith showed up.  
_It's surprising they aren't already there to be honest_ Carth thought as the elevator rose into the complex. When he stepped out of the elevator and looked around though, he saw something to shock him out of whatever thoughts he had been having about the lack of Sith response;  
A human man lying in a slowly expanding pool of blood just off to the left of the Elevator. Carth didn't recognise the armour the man was wearing and didn't notice any weaponry either, but he did notice the large shard of metal embedded in the side of the man's chest.

"Damn it. Where the hell is Zaalbar when you need him? I could do with some help carrying this guy back to the hideout without killing him." Carth moaned as he carried the comatose man.  
When Carth got the man back to the hideout he immediately set about healing the horrific wound in the man's side with an advanced med-pack they had acquired from the military base.

After two hours Carth had managed to remove the metal shard and stop all the bleeding, although he still wasn't too sure if there was any major internal damage that he couldn't fix. Mission and Zaalbar still hadn't turned up which was beginning to worry Carth, although he couldn't really do anything about it except send T3 out to find them, after cleaning the blood trail away of course.  
_One good thing about having a utility droid like that they know how to clean up blood stains as well as hack computers._ Carth thought.

Mission, Zaalbar and T3 returned a few hours later, with Mission stopping in shock in the doorway seeing that there was someone she didn't know there along with Carth.

"Uh...Carth, who the heck is this?" Mission asked shocked

"Don't know, I found him outside with a shard of metal in his side and unconscious, not surprising considering he must have got all the way there from the new escape pod outside without any help." Carth replied

"Yeah I was wondering what was with the new pod, I had a quick look in there on the way back, there's a dead body in there, had a piece of metal, looked like a restraint, stuck right through her chest... I-I wonder if he knew her." Mission said in a shaky voice

"It wouldn't surprise me, he looks like a soldier though I'll be damned if I know what type. I couldn't find any type of weapon on him, but then again I could quite easily have missed a concealed one, or even one that just doesn't look like a weapon."

"Y-You mean he might still be armed!" Mission exclaimed as she backed away from the comatose man

"Calm down! He's not going to do anything, he's still unconscious from all the blood loss and he might not even wake up as it is."

"So are we gonna take him with us when we leave? I mean Kaitlin should be here with the ship quite soon."

"That's a good question actually; I hadn't thought about it I guess we'll be asking Kaitlin when she contacts us."

6 hours later the orbital bombardment began and Kaitlin, Bastila and Canderous brought the Ebon Hawk around to pick up the rest of the party. Carth had Zaalbar bring the still unconscious man with them, no one deserved to be left to such a fate as Taris and he was the only one they could save.

.........

"Carth! Get into the cockpit and get us the Hell out of here!" Yelled Kaitlin, as the loading ramp closed.

Carth ran to the cockpit and took control from Bastila, putting them on a course out of the system "Ok we're on the way out of here, someone get on the gun turrets and make sure no fighters try to get in our way. I only hope these codes work and get us past the main ships."  
Kaitlin immediately left the cockpit and moved to the turret control.

"Carth set a course for Dantooine. There's a Jedi Enclave there where we'll be safe." Ordered Bastila from the co-pilots seat.

"Course laid in, as soon as Kaitlin manages to tackle those fighters trailing us, we'll jump."

Less than a minute later the Ebon Hawk made the jump to hyperspace, heading for Dantooine and safety.

"Ok then Carth, now that we are in no danger of dying, I would like to know why you saw fit to bring someone else with us, and a comatose man no less."Demanded Kaitlin as she re-entered the cockpit.

"Wow, calm down girl, I thought you'd be happy that I managed to save someone, you've been doing most of that up till now." Was the reply "Anyway, I found him comatose in the apartment complex with a big piece of metal in his side; it looked like it was part of a seat restraint. There was a new escape pod just down the street with one dead body in it and a blood trail leading right to this guy. I considered that if he had been shot down by the Sith then he deserved our help, so I patched him up and had Zaalbar bring him with us when you turned up."

"Hmm... I still want to know who the hells he is Carth, as well as whether he had any weapons on him."

"Uh... well you see I don't really know the answer to either of those questions. You see he was already unconscious when I found him and I haven't had time to search him for weapons at all." Carth replied slightly sheepishly.

"Oh brilliant! Bastila do you think you can go and check him for weapons and you may as well see if you can do anything for his wounds while you're at it. I'm going to go to bed, escaping from Taris was very tiring." Snapped Kaitlin

"Very well, I shall go check on our newest companion I'll let you know what I find out later." Replied Bastila, who then got up and moved off to the medical room.

"You shouldn't be so snappy you know Kaitlin. Bastila hasn't done anything to you and neither has the comatose guy. Go get some sleep; I'm sure we'll still be here when you wake up." Carth told Kaitlin.

With this conversation over, Kaitlin went off to a bunk and swiftly fell asleep. While she was doing so Bastila was checking the injured man for weapons and seeing how well he was recovering. She was shocked to discover a lightsaber in his possession, a double bladed lightsaber of a design she had never seen before. As Bastila removed the lightsaber from the man's right side, she wondered about the placement of it, she also wondered about why it was in this man's possession at all.  
To find out the truth Bastila reached out with the force and touched the man's mind, searching for answers. But what she found was a wall; she couldn't get into this man's mind and this worried her. She set about finding another way to learn about him so she had a close look at the armour he had been wearing.

The armour was clearly personalised and clearly very old although it appeared to be in almost perfect condition as though it was kept up and maintained on a daily basis. The armour had some writing on it, but it was in a script that Bastila could only barley recognise and had no hope of reading. The armour also had some kind of energy damping material weaved into it and Bastila could have sworn that the armour itself had some kind of force aura around it, but she couldn't feel anything from it beyond that.

Bastila shuddered, _for someone to go to such lengths to hide the force, what reason could anyone have to do such a thing._

Bastila decided to simply secure the lightsaber and armour in a storage bin and then go back to treating the man's wounds rather than think on it any longer.

.........

For the entire two day journey to Dantooine Bastila tended to the unconscious man in the med bay while Kaitlin, Mission, Carth, Canderous and Zaalbar got on with what they did to pass the time.

But just as the Ebon Hawk began its descent into Dantooine's atmosphere he began to stir. Bastila was in the cockpit at the time so when Trent awoke he found himself alone in the med bay of an unknown ship. Trent immediately noticed that his armour and lightsaber were not in the room and used the force to stealth himself as he left the med bay to find his equipment.  
Trent found his armour and lightsaber in a small storage locker in the ships main cargo hold and quickly got himself ready. His side still hurt but he knew the Jedi trance had healed most of his injuries, along with the medical attention of whoever's ship this was, he was almost back to full strength.

After getting himself ready, Trent decided to find out who had seen fit to rescue, or capture, him. He recognised the basic layout of the freighter from one of the designs that had been on the drawing board before his ancestors left the Republic, for a small blockade runner. Grossly overpowered engines and powerful deflector shields, along with four quad lasers ad a small laser turret to fight off fighters. As such Trent moved off towards the cockpit, feeling that he would get the most information there.

As Trent reached the common room however he saw a young woman heading in his direction from the cockpit, she walked right past the invisible Trent and carried on... towards the med bay.  
_Damn! I can't let her know that I've gotten up, not until I know where these people stand. May I be forgiven for that which I am about to do._ Trent thought as he moved up behind the woman who was just stopping in front of the med bay doors.

.........

As Bastila opened the doors to the med bay, she felt a strong push to her back. She fell forwards into the bay as her assailant closed the doors behind them. Bastila attempted to shout out but something prevented her from doing so, as her assailant appeared in front of her she realised that it was the man whom she had been treating for the past two days.

Bastila's eyes widened in shock as she realised that it was him who was preventing her from making a sound as she stared up into his eyes. Bastila attempted to get up and draw her lightsaber, but she discovered that although she was able to get up she could do nothing else.  
_It's this man! He is stopping me from doing anything he doesn't want, but how is he doing it! It shouldn't be possible. Not even the most powerful in the order have such fine control over their stasis fields._

"Who...who are you?" Bastila finally managed to ask after what seemed like a year of attempting to move or shout out.

"Who I am doesn't matter right now, what is important is whose side you are on. Do you follow the Sith or do you lend aid to the Republic?"

"I...I am a Jedi knight, I follow the council in helping the Republic."

With this said, Bastila felt the man's hold over her diminish slightly, though still not enough for her to escape or warn the others.

"A Jedi Knight? If that is the case then you should be able to answer my question. Unless of course you are not a true Jedi? Do not lie to me; now who are you?"

"I... I am Bastila Shan, Padawan of the Jedi order."

"Ah, so a Padawan, not a knight. Very well, what path do you follow in the Jedi order?"

"I... follow the light-"

"No. You misunderstand; I ask not what path in the force you follow but what path in the Jedi order. Are you a Guardian of the innocent, a Sentinel against the darkness, or a Counsellor to those lost and found?"

"I...I am a Jedi Sentinel."

"Very good, now tell me; where are we?"

"You...you do not know? We are on Dantooine, in the Jedi Enclave there."

"Jedi Enclave on Dantooine? A training Enclave I presume, administered by a training council?"

"Yes. The Enclave is run by Masters Vrook, Vandar, Zhar and Dorak."

"I see, most interesting. I will need to meet with these masters soon."

"Please, let me go" Bastila pleaded

"Of course Bastila, you have been most helpful to me and I have no wish to hold you against your will. But please, do not alert the rest of your crew that I am up just yet."

"Of...of course... Uh, could I ask you some questions?"

Trent smiled at this; she was inquisitive enough to still want to ask him questions after he had basically held her hostage. "Of course you may ask me questions Bastila Shan, Sentinel Padawan."

"Your method of addressing me... I have never heard it before."

"Never heard it before? It is an extremely basic greeting, giving respect to your name rank and chosen path."

"Where are you from? I have never heard of any such greeting and I am sure that few in the republic would consider it basic."

"Where I come from is not something I wish to talk about at this time Padawan. Ask another question please."

"Of course, I apologise for offending you... who exactly are you?" Bastila said warily, not wanting to anger him at all

"Do not worry Bastila Shan, you did not offend me, where I come from is simply not a subject which I wish to discuss. As for your question of who I am... I am Trent Calion... and I am the last of the Jedi Watchmen."

"Jedi Watchmen?!" Exclaimed Bastila "But they died out after the defeat of the Sith centuries ago."

"No young Bastila, they did not die out. They were exiled from Republic space. We had become too powerful in the eyes of the Republic, a threat to the Senator's illegal activities. So they exiled us, for doing what we believed we were exiled... ordered to hunt the Sith for the rest of eternity as punishment for doing it too well before." Bastila began to speak but Trent stopped her. "No Bastila, they knew exactly what they were doing and they knew their reasons. But it was perhaps for the best... it is our curse, the curse of our position as the first line of defence against the wrongs of the galaxy... that we fall... so many of us had fallen without anyone realising... we watched everyone except each other, so filled with distrust for outsiders were we that we even began to think the galaxy would be a better place if we ran it ourselves.  
Recently we have been sensing trouble from the Republic, and outside of it. It was decided that we would end our exile and return to the order to beg forgiveness for our past actions.  
But we were too late, and now I am the last of my people in Republic space, and my people are reduced to a mere shadow of our former selves. Every trained Watchman was aboard my fleet, as well as every Padawan and apprentice. All of them are dead and it is my fault for failing them."

Bastila had sat on the medical bed in shock during the whole of Trent's story. _How could the council have condoned something like this? _She asked herself _If they had foreseen the fall why had they not acted to stop it, rather than simply exile them._

"Bastila Shan, do not concern yourself with the council's motives for our exile. They did attempt to root out the corruption amongst us but we refused their aid. We left them little choice but to exile us all or risk another war that the Republic could not win." Trent smiled sadly at his own words "Now let us go and meet the Jedi council here on this world."

"Be...Before we go... why is your force aura so concealed?"

"Oh that, it is a technique taught to all Watchmen, it is important to keep yourself invisible as much as possible and masking your force aura is an important aspect of that, as I am on a Jedi world though I will stop concealing it and allow it to return to it's natural intensity and colour. Now let us go meet with the Jedi council. Lead on."

Bastila nodded and led Trent out of the med bay and through the Ebon Hawk to the lowered loading ramp. They exited the ship into a small space port, attached to the Jedi Enclave; Bastila led Trent through the Enclave to the Council chamber. A small number of Padawans were about and one of them decided to take a hostile attitude toward Trent.

"You there! Why do you not wear the customary robes of the Jedi?" She demanded

"Customary robes? The robes of the Jedi order are considered customary now are they? I was led to believe that they were only for those currently involved in study or on a diplomatic excursion."

"The robes of the Jedi order are to be worn at all times in public!"

"Oh my, the insolence you possess. Be careful of your emotions Padawan lest you fall to the dark side. Now if you will excuse me, I must meet with the council."

Trent walked away from the shocked Padawan shaking his head. _If this is what the order has come to then there is nothing that can save the Republic. _He thought sadly, as he entered the council chamber after Bastila.

* * *

**Woo there is chapter 1 out of the way, far longer than my previous story's chapter 1 but still, I like it. Please read and review :)**


	2. Chapter 2: An Oath And A Quest

AN:  
So here is chapter 2, please review, I don't mind if you like the story or not but reviews are really nice to get even if they are just people saying how bad the story is.  
Anyway... uh yeah, I realise that some of you may not have liked the fact that I skipped over almost the entirety of Taris... go ahead and flame me, I know some of you want to and it'll make you feel better (and maybe make you read more of my story).  
But anyway on to chapter 2. Enjoy.

Chapter 2: An Oath And A Quest

As Trent entered the council chambers he diminished his force aura, a gesture of respect amongst his people, he moved to the centre of the circular chamber and stood next to Bastila. When he reached the centre of the room, Trent bowed to the assembled Jedi Masters and waited for them to speak.

"Ah, an exile returns to us after so long. Why are you here Watchman? And what is your connection to that which plagues the Republic and our Order?" Came the cold and demanding voice of one Jedi Master.

Trent frowned at this blatant disregard of the common formalities by this Jedi master, but before he could reply another of the Masters spoke.

"You speak out of turn Vrook. It is not our place to demand such explanations, especially of one who does not know to whom he is speaking." The Master turned to address Trent "I am Master Vandar, with me are Master Vrook, Master Zhar and, the Chronicler of our Academy, Master Dorak. Padawan Bastila you already know correct?"

"Yes Consular Master Vandar I already know Sentinel Padawan Bastila."

"Very good. Now, Master Vrook's question does require an answer, even if it was not phrased as... diplomatically as we may have liked. But first, your force aura, it diminished as you entered the council chamber. Why is this?" Asked the Council member introduced as Master Zhar.

Trent was slightly confused by the question. _Is it not customary for them to reduce their aura presences in the company of Masters? _"It is a mark of respect amongst the Watchmen to reduce your aura when in the company of those higher ranking than yourself. That is the reason for my reducing my aura." Trent's voice contained not even the slightest hint of his confusion at the question and neither did his presence in the force. "As to Master Vrook's question. The Watchmen have been outside of the Republic for almost a thousand years now, it was hoped that the Council would have forgiven us in that time. But the reason that we... I, have returned now is that the whole of the Republic feels wrong in the force. The Masters of our order have always kept watch on the Republic throughout our exile; our mandate has never been forgotten. The Watchmen are the forefront of the battle against the darkness, the defenders of all those who cannot defend themselves. Even when the rest of the order does not act the Watchmen have always moved to defend the Innocent.  
That was the reason for our exile was it not Chronicler Master Dorak? The fact that we were a threat to the corrupt senators of the Republic and that the council would not risk turning into a separate political entity."

Master Dorak responded to Trent's accusation in a surprisingly calm and knowledgeable voice "Yes, that is one of the reasons your order was exiled from the Republic, but it was not the main reason, nor is it the reason that is remembered most keenly. The Watchmen were exiled because they had become too arrogant in their own abilities, so many of you had fallen and the rest turned a blind eye to it. The Order could not allow you to remain in the Republic with such values or with fallen Jedi in your midst. That was the main reason behind your exile."

"Yes I am aware of that. Many Watchmen did fall, and our exile has allowed us the time needed to root them out and to grow into what we are today. But this is enough debating about what happened a millennia ago, we must now talk about this new threat and how it will be stopped."

"Yes, although the Watchmen have been gone for some time they are still recognised as Jedi by most of the order, only the Blade Masters have ever voiced objection to their return." At this admission from Master Dorak, Trent chuckled. _The damned and arrogant Blade Masters, they never did understand what our role in the galaxy was meant to be, they just thought we were a waste of time; rooting out corruption rather than spending all our time fighting the symptoms of it._ "As such, we should be able to allow you to fight alongside the Republic forces as a member of the order. We only ask that you keep your status as a Jedi Watchman quiet, we have no need for those who still remember your kind to start questioning us."

"Very well Masters, I suppose that is acceptable, though I will not hide my status as a Watchman... I do have one question to ask. Why is there such a powerful force sensitive on the ship I arrived on who is not a Jedi?" This simple question shocked the Council into silence and Trent noticed Bastila's shocked expression out of the corner of his eye. "Ah, I see. I was not expected to know of this, tell me then, does this person know about their true past or parenthood?"

Surprisingly enough it was Bastila who spoke first, in a very shaky voice "You-You sensed her presence? How could you have done so, her powers have only just begun to reassert themselves."

"I am sure that as her powers stand now, any force sensitive would notice them. Her power may only have started to... reassert itself, but it is doing so with a vengeance. And by your choice of words I take it she was once a different person?"

This time it was Zhar who spoke, his voice clearly concerned but still steady "She was once a powerful Jedi Knight, before she fell to the Dark side. Her name was once Revan Kais, but that person is no more, she is now Kaitlin Nemanor and if what you say is true then she must once again be trained as a Jedi knight."

"I see... so you punished a fallen Jedi by removing all of her memories and imprinting a new identity?"

"No! She was mortally wounded during her capture; her mind was destroyed so we reprogrammed her with a new identity rather than allow her to die." Responded Bastila

Trent frowned at this. _Such damage would have left her almost brain-dead no matter how much healing was carried out... but Bastila seems to believe the story she is spouting, I wonder if even she knows the whole truth. _"Very well, although I do not believe the reasons you have given me I will accept what you have done. I will remain here while her training takes place if you will allow it and then decide how best I can aid in the fight against these new Sith.  
Masters, Padawan if you will excuse me I must now leave and honour my comrades fallen above Taris."

.........

With that Trent took three steps backward and then turned and left the council chamber. He walked to the courtyard outside the chamber; Trent walked up to the tree in the centre of the courtyard and knelt down facing it.

"I now honour all those felled by the hands of evil, may your souls rest in peace until the end of time." After saying this Trent took a small digital plaque out from his armour pocket, on it were the names of all the members of the ships who had died in battle over Taris. Trent then set about making a small memorial for those who had died. He took a second plaque and inscribed on it the words to an ancient memorial poem, so often used for Watchmen who fell in battle, and set the two plaques on the ground almost touching the tree, with the names of his comrades above their memorial poem;  
Thy journey begins  
With swords in the wind  
Odin's call was heard above them all  
Thy names shall never die.  
_I will return later and build a proper memorial for these men and women who gave their lives in battle. But for now this will have to do._ He thought after setting the plaques on the ground.

When he was finished, Trent stood up and noticed that a Padawan had been watching him.

"Is there something I can do for you Padawan?" Trent inquired

"N-No master, there is nothing." Came the hasty reply "I will leave you to your own business, good day."

_Hmm, perhaps I was wrong about the order. There are some at least who understand common niceties._ Trent then decided to wait for Bastila to finish her discussion with the council, as he had no real wish to impose on those who had rescued him and had not been given a room in the Enclave yet.  
About 15 minutes after Trent had finished his quick memorial; Bastila came out of the council chambers and walked over to where he was sitting, under the tree.

"The Council has asked that you remain on the Ebon Hawk for the duration of your stay on Dantooine." Bastila told him.

Trent sighed "Very well then Bastila, we should probably go and introduce me to the rest of your group onboard the ship." _I wonder if they will trust me, or if I will be considered a threat wherever I go. Perhaps returning was not a good idea. Perhaps we should have left the Republic to its fate._

.........

Trent followed Bastila back to the Ebon Hawk, on the way she told him more about Kaitlin and how she needed to see the council immediately so Bastila would be unable to introduce Trent to the rest of the crew, as she needed to take Kaitlin to the council.  
When Trent and Bastila reached the Ebon Hawk, they found Kaitlin and Carth standing next to the loading ramp waiting for them.

"So there you are Bastila, I was wondering where you had gone with our guest. Next time tell us before going would you?" Came Kaitlin's rather scathing comment when she noticed Bastila and Trent.

Bastila noticeably winced at her words but replied quite calmly "Of course Kaitlin, but there is no danger here, I merely took our guest to meet the Jedi Council. The council wishes to meet with you as well, we should not keep them waiting."

"Fine but before we go, would you mind telling me who our guest actually is? All we know so far is that he's a Human male who had a shard of metal stuck in his side while escaping from a ship in orbit over Taris, oh yeah and the fact that he had a lightsaber and some weird ancient armour." Retorted Kaitlin

"I am Trent Calion, Jedi Watchman. You are correct that I was injured in combat above the planet Taris, my fleet was destroyed by the Sith there and I am now the only survivor." Trent told her in a calm and collected voice, while thinking. _She is definitely strong in the force; if what the council said was true then her power will only grow._

"Ok, that answers who you are and how you ended up on Taris. I guess my other questions will have to wait until after I get back from this meeting with the council, don't go anywhere in the meantime alright."

"I have nowhere else to go for the time being so do not worry I will still be here when you return."

With the conversation over, Kaitlin and Bastila left for the council chambers leaving Trent and Carth standing by the Ebon Hawk. Trent sighed and decided he should probably introduce himself to Carth and the rest of the crew, as well as get a quick history lesson from someone.

Carth sighed as Kaitlin and Bastila left. Now he would have to get to know this new guy without their aid. "Well you'd better come into the ship and meet everyone. It'll be easier to introduce you to the whole lot right away and it'll be a good way to pass the time."

Trent nodded at this and entered the ship after Carth. _Well it is a good idea to get all the introductions out of the way as soon as possible, I'm sure there will be a fair few questions they'll ask me too. Well it's better to get them all out of the way at once I suppose._

.........

Five minutes later everyone was gathered in the communal area of the Ebon Hawk to meet the new guest, who they had all been wondering about for the past two days. Trent leant against the wall between the storage compartment and the bridge corridor while everyone else took positions around the holo projector in the middle of the room.

"Alright everyone, this is the man who has been in our med bay for the past two days, his name is Trent Calion. I think I'll let him handle it from here." Carth said introducing Trent to everyone else.

Trent sighed again before starting "As Carth said my name is Trent Calion, I was in command of a fleet of five cruisers that dropped out of hyperspace in orbit of Taris and were then shot down by the Sith fleet there. As far as I am aware, only 15 crewmen made it onto the surface of Taris and of them I am the only survivor, thanks to my being rescued by you.  
I thank you all for saving my life on Taris and for treating my wounds during the journey here. I feel that is enough about me for the moment so why don't the rest of you introduce yourselves?"

Canderous was the first to respond "I am Canderous, of the Mandalorian clan Ordo. So, why is it that you have a lightsaber? You have yet to answer that."

"I am a Jedi Watchman that is the reason I carry a lightsaber. Anything else you need to know?"

"Huh, Jedi Watchman? Never heard of 'em, but no there isn't anything else I need to know."

After an short silence Mission decided she may as well introduce herself and Zaalbar. "Well I'm Mission Vao and the Wookie over there is my best friend Zaalbar."

"How in all the galaxies does a Twi'lek teenager get a Wookie as a best friend?" inquired Trent

"We met a while back on Taris, a couple of Vulkars were bullying him and I tried to help him out. He ended up picking up one of the Vulkars by the neck and scaring the others off. We've been best friends ever since. Oh and he swore a life debt to Kaitlin a couple days ago."

"A life debt? That is a very powerful obligation for a Wookie is it not? What reason would you have had to swear a life debt to Kaitlin, a women you had only recently met?" Trent inquired, surprised.

"**She saved me from ****Gamorrean**** slavers, when she could quite easily have simply left me there to be sold. Although she will deny it, there were many other ways for her to complete her objective at the time which did not involve fighting the slavers. That is the reason I chose to swear a life debt to her." **Zaalbar responded, speaking for the first time, in Shyriiwook.

"I see, so Kaitlin is averse to slavery and honours her promises." Trent noticed the somewhat surprised looks on the faces of Mission, Carth and Canderous. "What? Are you surprised that I understand Shyriiwook?"  
None of them answered and just stared at Trent for a while.  
"Uh, well if that's all I would like to know where I will be staying onboard, the council here have decided that I am to stay on this ship for the duration of my stay... and before any of you ask no I had no say in the matter."

"Huh, well I guess you'll be sleeping in the port dormitory then. Come on I'll show you the way." Said Carth.  
Carth led Trent through the ship to the port dormitory and told him to pick one of the bunks that weren't already taken by either Canderous or himself.  
Trent quickly picked the bunk directly opposite Carth's and then decided to rest a bit and finish healing himself.

.........

Trent decided that while he was healing himself he would listen in on what was being said in the communal area now that he wasn't present; he opened his mind and allowed the force to show him what was happening and to allow him to hear it as well.

"So Carth, what exactly do we know about this guy then?" The obvious question coming from Mission. Trent smiled at this knowing that Mission was sharp and to the point, he liked her already. "All he's told us is his name and that he was shot down by the Sith above Taris, oh and that he's some kind of Jedi that no one's ever heard of."

"Mission, to tell the truth that's all I know. I was only introduced to him about five minutes before you guys were. You know as much as I do, we'll have to wait for Bastila to get back before we find out anything else." Carth replied in an almost apologetic voice, but one that was still filled with suspicion. "I hope Bastila and Kaitlin get back soon, we really need to talk about this guy being here."

"So what does anyone know about these so called Jedi Watchmen? I've certainly never heard of them." Came the growling question from Canderous. "I've heard of Sentinels, Guardians and Consulars but never Watchmen."

"Again, no idea. We know almost nothing about our guest other than he could probably kill us all in our sleep if he wanted to; and that includes Bastila. I looked over the security footage for the med bay when he woke up.  
He turned invisible. As in totally stealthed himself, using nothing but his own willpower or the force he turned completely and utterly invisible to the ships sensors. Then he captured Bastila somehow, I don't know what he did but she couldn't move until she answered all of his questions and begged him to let her go." Trent was very slightly annoyed at this admission by Carth that there were security cameras around and that he'd been using them to watch Trent, but it wasn't a great surprise to him. _Well at the very least I know that he's security conscious, I suppose on a ship this size the cameras are better than dedicated security personnel._

"So, I guess we wait for Kaitlin and Bastila then?" Mission asked after a somehow awkward silence

"Yeah I guess so; well I'd better go make sure our guest hasn't decided to run off on us, Kaitlin will kill me if she doesn't get a chance to question him herself." Supplied Carth, thus ending the conversation and the need for Trent to listen in on them.  
Trent decided that he may as well have a quick peek at what was going on in the council chamber and see if Bastila and Kaitlin were done yet. He reached out through the force, completely unfelt by anyone not trained as a Watchman and looked upon the council chamber. Trent did not listen in though as that would have been a breach of trust that would have seen him punished severely had anyone caught on, he still remembered when he'd tried the same thing back when he first learned the talent and had no desire to go through anything remotely similar to that punishment if he could help it.

Trent saw Kaitlin standing in the very centre of the chamber; she radiated a calm and respectful aura although it fluctuated wildly at times when the council clearly pissed her off. Bastila was standing next to Kaitlin, in the same position she had occupied when Trent was talking to the council; her aura radiated an innocence that Trent had not seen for a long time, although there was also suppressed guilt and fear apparent. The Masters still stood in their row along the curving wall; their auras mostly showing calm curiosity and a little fear, although Masters Vander and Zhar also showed guilt. Master Vrook however was a totally different matter; he radiated an intense hatred of Kaitlin as well as an heir of complete and total arrogance that was very disturbing to Trent.  
The meeting was clearly drawing to a close though since the Masters had begun a small speech and Kaitlin appeared both excited and bored at the same time, which interested Trent as to which emotion was the implanted one and which was the one truly felt by this woman.  
Kaitlin and Bastila bowed to the council and walked out directly after the council's little speech. Trent brought himself out of his trance and prepared for more questions to come his way from this Kaitlin, who seemed to be the unofficial leader of the crew, when she returned.

Five minutes later though Trent was quite surprised when Kaitlin made absolutely no mention of him at all and almost totally ignored him. Trent decided to ask Bastila about the reason behind this drastic change in Kaitlin's attitude and discovered that she was either in shock from what the council had told her (which Trent doubted after seeing her), or had simply forgotten about him (which was even more doubtful to Trent).  
Believing neither of these responses Trent decided to probe further by talking to Kaitlin himself, he went to the starboard dormitory to talk to Kaitlin, knocking on the door and waiting for Kaitlin to open it since he respected her privacy. Kaitlin opened the door after just over a minute and stood in the doorway glaring up at Trent.

"What do you want?" She demanded, the ice in her voice not totally disguising the tremor of fear.

"I would like to know why you have decided to lock yourself away from the rest of the crew and why you seem to have decided that I am not worth your time to question." Trent stated matter-of-factly, his voice betraying none of his feelings toward the subject other than a slightly bored indifference.

"That is none of your business, now leave me alone! I don't want company." Kaitlin almost yelled back at him. "Just go away!"

"I see the council here have angered you. Hiding your emotions will do you no good, you know that and it is a failing in the Jedi that they do not. But if you truly wish for me to leave then I will intrude no further." Trent turned as if to leave but stopped when he heard Kaitlin sigh and ask him to stay.

"No, don't leave. I'm sorry for insulting you before and I'm sorry that I've been keeping the crew at arm's length since my meeting with the council... it's just... they told me that I was probably going to be trained as a Jedi and I don't think that I'm good enough to meet their standards.  
I'm a smuggler for crying out loud! A smuggler is not good Jedi material and I don't want to fail."

"I see, you fear failure and rejection. Do not worry I believe that you will make a very good Jedi knight. You have experiences that none in the order could ever hope to have and these experiences have made you the person you are today. Always remember your past when you're training and you will retain your core values and beliefs. Also remember this, the only person you have to convince is yourself, other people's opinions are not valid in many aspects.  
Now I do believe that you wished to know more about me, correct?"

"Oh yeah, I did say that didn't I. Well ok, I only have a few questions for you right now. Who are you? Is the first."

"Ah, the question that has been on almost everyone's lips since I was first seen it would appear. Very well, I am Trent Calion and I am a Jedi Watchman."

"Ok then so that's your name and... profession. So how about where you come from?"

"I come from a planet beyond the outer rim. More than this I will not say."

"Hmm... ok then, why are you here?"

"I was leading a small fleet of ships back to the Republic to make contact with the Jedi Council. We stopped over Taris on our way to Coruscant and were attacked by the Sith fleet there. We took down one Sith Cruiser but lost all five of our ships and I am the only survivor, thanks in no small part to your crew."

"Ok... that's really all need to know for now. Uh... how many people did you lose in that battle?"

Trent smiled sadly "I lost 5749 men and women with the destruction of my fleet. The best of the Watchmen were among us and with them dead there is little that the Watchmen can do to help the Republic in its time of need.  
If that is all I will take my leave now."

When Kaitlin remained silent, Trent turned and left, walking back to the communal area of the Ebon Hawk. On his way past the loading ramp however, Trent noticed that Mission was just returning to the ship and looked extremely agitated, he decided it best to find out what problem she was having that would cause her to act this way.

"Mission, what's wrong?" Trent inquired, when Mission just shook her head Trent continued. "I can tell that you are agitated and unhappy just by looking at you. Now please, tell me what is wrong, I may be able to help you with whatever the problem is."

"I don't want to talk to you, I don't trust you!" Mission exclaimed "Just go away, I don't want to talk to you."

Trent sighed. _I suppose I am not trusted, still you can't blame them for being untrusting, they don't even know me. _"Alright then Mission, I will not disturb you about this any further. Go and find someone you trust to talk to, Kaitlin is in the Starboard dormitory, though I'm not sure how receptive she'll be.  
Goodbye then Mission."

Trent turned away from Mission and walked off towards the communal area before she could respond. She decided to follow his advice and talk to Kaitlin about Taris being destroyed. Even if she didn't trust Trent she knew good advice when she heard it.

.........

For the next two months Kaitlin trained to become a Jedi, while she was training Trent got to know the rest of the crew somewhat better and spent most of his time onboard the Ebon Hawk. About halfway through Kaitlin's training though, Trent decided that he would have to take a more active role and rectify some major deficiencies he saw with the Jedi training techniques.

One month after arriving on Dantooine therefore, Trent again met with the Council to discuss Kaitlin's training and what he saw as the problems with it. The council were predictably unenthusiastic about his ideas and Master Vrook flatly refused to listen to Trent, interrupting him with a speech on how the Watchmen were not true Jedi and that the training techniques had been good enough for millennia and would not be changed just because of one person's perceived faults in them.

With this total rejection of his advice by the council, Trent instead began training Kaitlin in certain force techniques himself, after impressing upon her the deficiencies with her current training. With Trent's help Kaitlin improved so fast that she was able to finish her training in a total of just two months and with her training complete she became a Jedi Sentinel, with one final task to do before she was to be promoted to Padawan. Kaitlin was to remove a Dark side taint from the Ancient grove that was sometimes used for meditation, which was making the Kath hounds extremely aggressive, Trent of course was not allowed to accompany her and nor was Bastila.

.........

While Kaitlin was away dealing with the taint Bastila and Trent found themselves alone with each other for the first time since they had talked to the Council, over two months beforehand. Bastila was still wary of Trent due to his extreme control over the force, his power frightened her for reasons she refused to admit to herself or anyone else.

"Trent... I, uh... I know that you have been training Kaitlin privately and without the approval of the Masters. I was wondering; what you have been teaching her?" Bastila opened the conversation with an accusatory tone in her voice that totally failed to mask her apprehension.

Trent was slightly surprised at Bastila's question and for once allowed it to show when he answered Bastila. "I am surprised that you are inquiring Bastila, you keep the words of the Masters so close to your heart that most would think you close to a slave to them."

"I am no slave Trent!" She replied hotly.

"I know Bastila, perhaps slave was the wrong word, but throughout my time here I have noticed that you do everything the Masters order you to do without the slightest hesitation or consideration of whether there is a better way. Your sparring with Kaitlin proves this; you stick to the traditional sword forms, taught to you by the Masters, even when Kaitlin takes a far better, improvised style you refuse to be swayed from the dogmatically taught ones. You seem to be afraid to improvise on the spot and are always looking for a master to tell you where you go wrong or where you do something perfectly.  
It is not a good idea to live in such a way Bastila, for you will be leaving this enclave soon and shall return to the Republic fleet and the war, where the Masters will be unavailable to you."

"That is not true Trent! I am quite capable of improvisation and I need no one to tell me when I do something well." Bastila replied indignantly. "Besides you are avoiding my question; what have you taught Kaitlin?"

Trent sighed. "Very well, I'll tell you; I taught her how to mask a large portion of her force aura, I taught her a style of lightsaber combat which takes advantage of almost every weakness the enemy possesses whilst covering many of your own, I taught her things about the Sith that few are safe knowing, I taught her many things and she has flourished for it.  
And now, I wonder what your reply shall be. Will you be requesting I teach you these things as well? Or will you run to the Council and tell them that I have corrupted Kaitlin's mind with Sith information?  
Just remember Padawan, the force is all things, both light and dark. To cut yourself off from one side is to weaken yourself."

"I...I don't know what I'm going to do... I should report you to the Council but something is stopping me from doing so. I wish to learn more about the force and how to be a better Jedi... but I do not know if I am ready to be taught by a Watchman, an exile of the Council."

"Very well Bastila. You can always see me later once you have made up your mind on whether you wish extra training or not.  
Ah, our new Padawan returns. Kaitlin will be back here in a minute and it appears she has redeemed someone as well. I will be most interested to see how she did that, as will the Council I am sure."

That night Bastila and Kaitlin shared a vision of Revan and Malak in the ruins outside the Enclave, the Council decided that they should investigate and decided that Trent should be allowed to accompany them.

.........

"Bastila, Kaitlin, I hope you realise what you're getting us all into here. The Dark side in this place is very strong and spending too long here will likely corrupt you both." Trent said to his two companions. "I would much rather not have to kill you, so I advise we leave quickly."

"Trent, we are here on a mission from the Council. We cannot leave until that mission is completed." Came the cold reply from Bastila, to Kaitlin's left.

"I don't like this place any more than you do Trent but Bastila's right, we can't leave yet." Kaitlin said as she reinforced Bastila's position on the subject. "Anyway why won't you be corrupted by this place if we will be?"

"I am not asking us to leave immediately, or before we complete our mission. I am simply asking that we refrain from staying any longer than is absolutely necessary. Let's go in and get this over with then. Oh, and I won't be corrupted because an integral part of mine as well as all other Watchmen's training was in resisting the Dark side in evil locations such as this."

The three entered the ruins and found a small passageway leading to a chamber with an apparently inoperative droid and the very recently killed body of a Jedi knight. Trent saw pain and sorrow in Bastila's eyes as she looked at the dead Jedi and knew in that moment that she was not ready to be on the frontlines of a war.  
Kaitlin almost totally ignored the body and simply stepped up to have a look at the droid. When she approached the droid came to life, speaking in a variety of alien languages that none of the party could understand although a few were recognisable. The droid finally started speaking in an archaic variety of Selkatha, which was understood by all three Jedi.

"/Welcome to the temple of the builders. You are not of the builders species, yet you are not of the slave species either. Do you wish to learn of the Star forge like those who came before? /"

Kaitlin decided that she would be the one to speak to the droid. "What is this Star Forge you speak of?"

"/The Star Forge is the epitome of technology, a testimony to the builders themselves. It is the centre of the Invincible Empire and will stand forever more. /"

"Why do you speak an ancient variety of Selkath?"

"/Communication with the slave species was essential to ensure that the temple was built to the correct standards as set by the builders. As such I have been programmed to reproduce any of the slave languages to give instructions. /"

"When we first approached you said something about those who came before. Were they Revan and Malak?"

"/Revan and Malak... yes those were the names by which they called each other. They passed through the doors and passed the tests, deeming them worthy of passing through the final doorway and to look upon what the builders have created. /"

"Ok... what are these tests?"

"/Clarification unavailable, foreknowledge of the tests is not allowed. /"

"Well let's get this over with shall we; Trent you feel like leading the way?"

"Oh very nice Kaitlin, put me in front so I can get shot at while you two stay back and admire the view?" Kaitlin laughed at this while Bastila simply glared at Trent. "Oh if only looks could kill Bastila. Anyway, I'll lead the way in, just be ready to take advantage of not being the target if we actually find something dangerous." _Well it is nice to know that they trust me now at the very least, I'm sure that we're going to get shot at once we open these stupid doors, Dark side locations never make travel easy._

Trent walked to the door on the left and pressed the pressure plate in the centre. The door opened smoothly and the Trent walked in, noticing immediately an inoperative droid and a great deal of rubble. As Trent approached the droid it sprang to life and began firing blaster bolts at him.

"Damn it! I knew something like this would happen." Trent exclaimed as he deflected all the blaster bolts back at the guardian droid. "Anytime you feel like helping it would be appreciated, the re-fire rate on this thing is insane and it has a fairly powerful deflector shield so I can't do a great deal to it with rebounded shots."  
Bastila and Kaitlin moved up behind Trent at these words, activating their yellow lightsabers and trying to figure out a way to take the guardian droid out.  
"Look, if one of you can draw its fire away from me I can use the force to blow its shields out, and then we can just charge it. Whenever you're ready just let me know."

"Ok, I'm ready to draw its fire Trent. Just disable its shields quickly; I don't want to deflect blaster bolts for too long." Bastila called out.

Bastila ran towards the guardian droid, passing to the left of Trent. The moment she was closer to the droid than Trent, it shifted all its fire to her leaving Trent free to do what he needed to do.  
Just as Trent used his disable droid power though, the guardian droid fired what looked to be a carbonite freezing ray at Bastila, freezing her arms and causing her to drop to the ground in pain.

Trent's disable droid power had however managed to disable both the guardian droid's weapons and shield just as it froze Bastila, so she was safe from any further attacks as Kaitlin and Trent ran towards the droid and sliced it apart with their lightsabers.

The moment the guardian droid was destroyed, Trent ran over to Bastila to help her, while Kaitlin walked over to the computer console at the other end of the room. When Trent got close to Bastila he saw that her right arm had been frozen to the shoulder and her left arm had been frozen to the elbow. She was slumped against a piece of debris gasping in pain with her double bladed lightsaber still grasped in her frozen hands but shorted out.

"Bastila, how much pain are you in?" Trent asked softly as he knelt down next to her, making sure to avoid touching her frozen arms. "I know it's a stupid question but please answer, talking will distract you from the pain."

"I d-don't need to be di-distracted from the pain." Bastila gasped.

"Bastila I know that isn't true, now please talk to me while I start to unfreeze you because the unfreezing process is even more painful. I'm sorry I got you into this, I should have disabled the droid faster."

"N-no, don't say that. If you hadn't disabled it when you did this would have been much worse. I-I'm just sorry that I couldn't disable it my-myself."

"I told you Bastila, the training you have received is not sufficient for combat with anything force driven. Now hold still, this is going to hurt very badly." Trent began force healing Bastila's right arm and reheating it doing his very best to block out her screams of pain. After finishing her right arm Trent stopped. "I am so sorry Bastila, but there is nothing I can do to reduce the pain of this. Carbonite freezing is often used as a means of torture, it was very popular amongst the Sith during the Great Hyperspace war. Again, I am sorry for causing you this much pain, I promise you that I will not allow this to happen again."

Through her sobs Bastila managed to reply "It-it's alright T-Trent. I d-don't blame you for any of this. I..."

"Shush, Bastila, do not attempt to make me feel better about this. It is my fault that this happened and I accept this fact as well as the fact that there is nothing I can do about it. All I can do is make certain that it never happens again.  
I'm going to start on your left arm now, are you ready?"

Bastila nodded and Trent began healing her left arm. Bastila managed not to cry out as much with this arm but Trent could see the pain he was causing her when he looked up into her eyes.  
_I can never allow this to happen again, she is too perfect to scar her soul in such a way. Her eyes now contain a pain that most should never have to bear witness to... I have allowed the death of one thing I swore to protect; I cannot allow such a thing to happen again. Even if it costs me my life I will protect her from any further harm.  
_Trent finished healing Bastila's carbonite freezing and knelt in front of her for a minute, looking into her eyes with concern. But by then Kaitlin had finished with the ancient computer and came over to where they were, clearly concerned.

"I... heard Bastila screaming, what happened?" Kaitlin asked as she got close

"I healed her carbonite freezes... it... healing carbonite damage is even more painful than receiving it. It's what made carbonite rays popular with torturers during the Great Hyperspace war... and with the fallen Watchmen afterwards." Trent replied, sounding totally composed. Only Bastila could see the pain he felt when talking of the fallen Watchmen, as he was still looking into her eyes when he answered Kaitlin's question.

Trent looked away from Bastila's eyes finally and got up as Kaitlin said "So are we ready to go through and fight the second guardian?"

At these words Bastila tried to get up and almost collapsed in pain. Trent caught her and supported her back into the central chamber. "Kaitlin, Bastila isn't going to be able to fight in her condition. We'll have to take out the next guardian without her." Bastila opened her mouth to argue but Trent cut her off. "No Bastila, you can barely stand, you are in no state to fight a force powered droid. Just rest here and don't argue, besides your lightsaber is still shorted out, the emitter is probably shattered."  
Bastila groaned as Trent set her down against the wall opposite the body of the dead Jedi but didn't argue the point.

Trent decided that he would again be the first one to go through the door and would have to disable the droid while still deflecting the blaster bolts. Kaitlin tried to argue with him but he refused to listen to her ending the quick argument with the words "I took an oath Kaitlin, an oath to defend all innocents from harm. I have already failed in that oath once today, by allowing Bastila to be injured; I have no desire to fail it again by allowing you to be hurt. I will take on the guardian alone and you will simply wait for me to destroy it before going to the terminal."

Trent managed to destroy the guardian droid with relative ease when it stopped firing its blaster and attempted to hit him with a flamethrower, giving him enough time to disable it using the force and then to move up and slice it to pieces.  
Once the droid was destroyed Kaitlin entered, giving Trent a dirty look before going to the second ancient console and unlocking the third door.

Trent and Kaitlin re-entered the central chamber where Trent picked up Bastila, who had passed out from the pain while he fought the second guardian droid, and they went through the final door. Bastila stirred as the Star map in the centre of the room opened, showing another four planets as well as the one they were on.

"Hmm... looks damaged, but it's complete enough to show us four other outposts, looks like Korriban, Tatooine, Kashyyyk and Manaan. Unless my astrogation is totally off that is. We'd better download this to a data pad." Trent said as the Star map opened. "Oh, welcome back Bastila, you've woken up again have you?" Bastila simply groaned in pain at this and Trent immediately felt guilty for teasing her after a carbonite torture. "I'm sorry Bas, just go back to sleep, we'll be heading back to the enclave soon."

Kaitlin sniggered at this but shut up immediately when Trent glared at her. "Ok, I've downloaded the Star map. Let's get back and report to the Council, I don't want to spend any longer in this place." She said quickly, not wanting Trent to be annoyed at her.

The three of them left the ruins and began the walk back to the Enclave, with Trent carrying an again unconscious Bastila and Kaitlin keeping a look out for any Kath hounds.

.........

Upon returning to the Enclave, Kaitlin immediately went to report to the Council while Trent took Bastila off towards the dormitories. On his way to the dormitories, Trent realised that he didn't actually know which room was Bastila's, luckily for him the same Padawan who had watched him set up the memorial two months ago was standing in the courtyard, looking at the new memorial that Trent had constructed over the past two months, and had hurried over when he saw Trent carrying Bastila.

"Is there something I can help you with Master?" The Padawan inquired as he drew close.

_Ah it is nice to see that some Jedi still wish to help those in need. _Trent thought, he said. "Yes Padawan, I need to know which room is Bastila Shan's. She was injured and requires rest."

"Would it not be better to take her to the medical wing if he was injured then Master?"

"No Padawan, she is no longer injured, I have already healed her. She just requires rest, to regain her strength."

"Very well, I will show you to her room then. Please follow me."

With that the Padawan led Trent through the Enclave to the room in the dormitory section which was assigned to Bastila. Once Trent had entered the room with Bastila, the Padawan asked if there was anything else he could do to help, when Trent told him there was not he left to complete his other duties.  
Trent laid Bastila down on her bed and then set about making certain that she was comfortable, he made certain that her carbonite injuries had fully healed and then undressed her and put her under the sheets.

After making certain that Bastila was resting comfortably Trent took her lightsaber, clipping it to his belt and deciding to repair it for her before she woke up. Trent then put her clothes in a small pile to the right of her bed and left, closing the door after himself.

As Trent left Bastila's room he sighed, knowing that he would now have to go and talk to the Council about what had occurred in the ruins and how Bastila had been injured. Although they had not explicitly told him to keep her safe Trent knew that Vrook at the very least would blame him for all that went wrong and for Bastila's injuries and the damage to her lightsaber.

.........

When Trent entered the Council chambers he was surprised to find that a third Jedi was there along with himself and Kaitlin. As he entered the chamber, Trent caught the end of the conversation concerning this other Jedi with Master Vandar saying that her request to accompany Kaitlin had been accepted.  
With that said the other Jedi turned to leave and almost walked in to Trent as he entered the chamber.

"I apologise, Jedi Guardian." Said Trent as the Cathar jumped back with a hiss.

"Do not worry... uh..."

"I am Trent Calion, Jedi Watchman."

"I-I see. Well, I should be the one to apologise Trent Calion. I am Juhani, Jedi Guardian... well I should keep you no longer, goodbye Trent Calion."

"Goodbye then Juhani, from what I heard I shall see you aboard the Ebon Hawk later. Now I must talk to the Council."

Trent walked past Juhani and into the Council chamber to stand next to Kaitlin. As he had expected Master Vrook was extremely hostile towards him right from the off.

"So Watchman, you allowed Padawan Bastila to be gravely wounded by your incompetence. Explain yourself and how you allowed this to occur." Demanded Master Vrook.

"I did not 'allow' as you say, anything to happen to Bastila, she was injured by a carbonite freezing ray which froze her arms and caused her extreme pain. I would expect you to know how much more painful the healing of carbonite freezing is and the fact that selective freezing was once the most popular torture technique due to this fact. She is now resting in her room here in the Enclave.  
Besides... her injury is not the most important factor of the mission we undertook. We should be discussing the Star map that we found and the implications it has for the war against the Sith." Trent responded. Only Kaitlin caught his momentary hesitation before saying that Bastila's injury was not important although she let on no sign of knowing it.

Master Vandar was the one who replied to Trent's statement addressing both him and Kaitlin "You have done well by finding this Star map but your mission is not done. You must travel to the worlds mentioned on this map, find the remaining Star maps and use them to find the Star forge."

"Revan and Malak travelled to these worlds when they began their fall; the Star forge is surely an artefact of the Dark side. Finding it is the only way to stop Malak and his Sith; the fate of the Galaxy rests on your shoulders." Came Master Vrook's input

"Remember that secrecy and discretion are paramount to your success." Master Dorak supplied. "You will not be able to hide the fact that you are Jedi, nor should you. But the true nature of your mission must not become known to Malak."

"Masters, Malak knows where the Star maps are. We will not be able to fool him for long, he will know what we are doing after at the very latest the second planet we visit. How are we expected to sop Malak finding out about our mission?" Trent inquired

"You will not be able to hide your purpose for long, but the less time Malak knows about your mission the less he will be able to muster against you." Master Dorak answered. "Now go. Padawan Juhani has also requested to join you on your quest and the Council has granted the request. I advise you to tell Bastila of our decision as she is not present."

With their mission stated and explained, Trent and Kaitlin bowed and left the Council chamber.

On their way out though, Trent and Kaitlin almost walked into an old man who was storming into the council chambers. Trent and Kaitlin stopped and looked back through the door into the Council chamber, to see the old man shouting at the Council and demanding that the disappearance of his son be investigated by the Jedi.  
Trent and Kaitlin looked at each other and stayed on the threshold of the Council chamber to see what happened. When the man left, they were called back into the chamber and told that the man was Alhan Matale, and that he blamed the Sandral family for the disappearance of his son Cassus. Master Vandar said that whenever they had time, Kaitlin should investigate the problems on Dantooine. Master Zhar supplied that even though their mission was very important, they could not forget that the Jedi must stand for all that is right and help those in need.

When Trent and Kaitlin left the Council chambers again, Kaitlin decided to head straight to the Ebon Hawk to make sure it was ready to leave on a moment's notice while Trent said that he would collect Bastila and make certain that she had fully healed.  
Before heading off to Bastila's room however, Trent went to the workshop beside the Council chambers to repair Bastila's lightsaber. When Trent looked closely at the lightsaber he noticed that it had been setup with no amplification crystals and only had the yellow colour crystal, he also noticed that the only true damage done to it was a shorting out of the power supply which Trent fixed in seconds at the workbench. He considered adding some extra focussing crystals but decided that to do so would be a breach of trust with Bastila.

.........

When Trent arrived at Bastila's room he found that her door was still closed. He felt out with the force and discovered that she was still sleeping inside her room. Having no wish to wake her suddenly Trent entered her room quietly and gently sat down on the end of her bed to allow her to wake up in her own time. Trent placed Bastila's lightsaber next to him on the bed and made certain it did not roll away.  
After five minutes Bastila stirred from her sleep.

"So how are you feeling now Bastila?" He asked her

"Hmm? I'm ok. Why?" She replied sleepily, not noticing anything wrong and feeling quite safe.

"Huh, knowing you I would have expected... never mind actually. Kaitlin and I talked to the Council, we need to leave Dantooine soon. The Star map showed us four planets we need to visit to find the Star forge and stop Malak.  
Uh, you need to get ready and get to the ship. I'm here to help you if you need it."

"Ok, I'll get up then." Trent smiled at the innocence displayed by Bastila and felt a pang of sorrow, she reminded him so much of his sister.  
_I am sorry Elaina, I should have protected you better. I promise that I will never allow such a thing to happen again, I will protect all those who require protection as you did all that time ago. _He thought.  
Bastila caught the look of profound sorrow and regret in Trent's eyes and almost gasped at it. She had gotten so used to Trent being calm and collected under all sorts of pressure in the short time she had known him, that she could hardly imagine such pain in his eyes.  
_How can he be in such pain, I cannot be the cause can I? He cannot blame himself for my injuries... can he? It was not his fault..._

Trent caught Bastila's shocked expression and quickly buried his feelings as he looked at her. "Come on Bastila, let's get you ready to go shall we?" Trent said with a clearly false optimism in his voice which made him wince inwardly.

"Trent... what is it that causes you such pain? It is not your fault that I was injured, you cannot blame yourself for that." Bastila whispered, now fully awake.

"Don't worry yourself Bastila, my pain is not something that can be shared and it is not your fault that I carry it. I will tell you the reason for it later if you wish but for now we must get over to the Ebon Hawk, Kaitlin wanted to leave as soon as possible and she can't do so without two members of the crew."

Bastila nodded and made to get up, realising as she swung her legs out of the bed that she was undressed. "Trent! Did you undress me?" She exclaimed upon discovering this.

Trent winced, he had forgotten about that. "Uh, yes I did. I could hardly let you sleep in your bed fully clothed now could I? There wasn't a great deal else I could do other than waking you up and I had no wish to disturb you.  
If you want me to leave while you get dressed again I will."

"Yes I want you to leave while I get dressed, you shouldn't even be in my room in the first place!"

"Well it's clear that you've fully woken up then. But before I go I need to make certain that your fingers have fully healed from the carbonite freezing." Trent took Bastila's hands in his and inspected them as he said this. "Very good, your hands seem to be totally healed, but I must tell you not to carry anything for a few days if you can help it, as such I will be carrying all your stuff to the Ebon Hawk. Understand?"

"Yes I understand, now get out while I dress."

Trent chuckled and got up to leave. "Oh I almost forgot, I repaired the damage your lightsaber took, it's on the end of your bed." Trent then left the room and closed the door before Bastila could reply.  
Trent waited outside Bastila's room for eight minutes before re-entering, surprising Bastila, who had only just finished dressing.

"Trent! I didn't say you could come back in... how did you know I had finished dressing?" Bastila asked suspiciously.

"The force can be used for a variety of things Bastila, something else I'll tell you about later if you're interested. Now pick what you want to take with you, we need to leave as soon as we can."

Bastila spent another few minutes collecting her possessions to take to the Ebon Hawk. When she was finished Trent picked up the small bag without comment and led the way back to the Ebon Hawk with Bastila trailing along behind him.

**Woo, there is chapter 2, character development and some random plot devices galore, just under 10,000 words too :) Please read and review.**


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